Chapter 54: Actor Candidates and the Establishment of the Talent Agency

The script discussion concluded, and the group began brainstorming suitable actors.

Regarding this, Zhang Qianjun had simple requirements: since it was a comedy, they needed to find plenty of eccentric-looking people.

Then, wasn't there a show called *The Laughing Room*? They could select more actors from there. People like Qiao Shan, Pan Binglong, Cui Zhijia, and Zhang Yiming could all be called in.

There was also Wei Xiang and Chang Yuan from Mahua FunAge. They wouldn't be expensive during this period anyway. As for those who had already appeared on the Spring Festival Gala and become famous, forget about them—it wasn't cost-effective.

As for child actors, Jiang Yiyi, Zhang Zifeng, Zhao Jinmai, and others were all possibilities. They could use whoever fit the role; there were plenty of child stars.

There was no rush on this; they would find people to build the team first and start filming in the second half of the year.

Liu Chang noted everything down one by one.

"What about the main female roles?"

Zhang Qianjun lowered his head and thought for a moment.

"Hard to say. It depends on the production companies. Monopolizing the profits is impossible. By then, other investors will definitely want to insert their own people."

Liu Chang nodded upon hearing this, but his gaze remained fixed on Zhang Qianjun.

Thinking Liu Chang wanted to make arrangements for his girlfriend, Zhang Qianjun said, "Aside from Han Lu and the protagonist's younger sister, you can decide whatever you want for the remaining roles regarding Zhou Fang."

Liu Chang hurriedly denied it.

"That's not what I mean. Are we including Ye Qing in this movie?"

Zhang Qianjun thought to himself that there was nothing awkward about asking this.

"No. I've arranged for her to be in a different film. Being together all the time makes it easy to get bored. Besides, she said she doesn't want to be a girlfriend."

He then shared Ye Qing's theory with them.

Han Qiming was the first to react.

"A master move! This isn't about worrying that you're giving her too much; she clearly wants everything."

Liu Chang also repeatedly agreed.

"Isn't this retreating in order to advance? Over time, romance turns into familial affection. Find an opportunity to have a child later, and she'll have you locked down whether you get married or not."

As for Wen Mu, because this was his first time attending a small team meeting, he was still rather reserved and preferred not to meddle in the boss's personal affairs for the time being.

Li Kai still didn't quite understand and went to ask Han Qiming and the other guy how they had reached that conclusion.

Zhang Qianjun had no idea how this matter would turn out in the end, so he decided to let nature take its course.

After confirming a few more general details, the group bid farewell and left one by one. Sensing it wasn't too late, Zhang Qianjun picked up his phone and dialed a number.

The call went through, and a slightly annoyed voice came from the other end.

"Scumbag, don't you know this is my skin repair hour?"

Ignoring her pretense, Zhang Qianjun replied, "You're not even twenty-five yet; you've still got plenty of good years ahead. Besides, don't you often stay up late?"

Liu Yifei flatly denied it.

"Who says I often stay up late?"

"The media. 'Liu Yifei stays up late shooting for five consecutive days, sleeping less than three hours. Bare-faced skin remains textbook-perfect.'"

The celestial beauty on the other end wore a mocking expression.

"Scumbag, you've read too many promotional drafts. Just say what you want. Why are you losing your confidence after becoming a scumbag? Weren't you very direct before?"

Seeing how aggressive she was, Zhang Qianjun stopped beating around the bush.

"I'm starting a movie in the second half of the year. Come make a cameo."

Lying on the sofa, the celestial beauty looked utterly disdainful.

"Hmph, you ask me to cameo, and I'll just go? What role?"

"Play a dead person."

The celestial beauty instantly sat up from the sofa.

"Zhang Qianjun, do you want to die? Why don't you go play a corpse in *The Four*?"

Zhang Qianjun patiently explained, "Not a corpse, a dead person—a character living in the protagonist's memories. In terms of importance, you could even be called the female lead of the movie."

The celestial beauty let out a cold 'tch'.

"A cameo means the role has very little screen time?"

Zhang Qianjun smiled faintly. "Originally it was about two minutes, but considering we still have a bit of camaraderie, I'll extend it to five minutes. You should know, a female character with five minutes of screen time in a movie can completely be promoted as the female lead. Accept cheerfully and stop putting on airs. Even if you don't come, you'll just be sitting at home twiddling your thumbs."

Furious, the celestial beauty thought: *I am clearly at home petting my cat!*

"Zhang Qianjun, what exactly do you mean?"

*This woman is so pragmatic; she didn't even call me a scumbag.*

Zhang Qianjun muttered inwardly, "What could I possibly mean? Weren't you the one who said we were friends? Come if you're willing, forget it if you're not. There are plenty of rising starlets eager to jump in. Do you know how much pressure I'm under just to let you appear? Don't be ungrateful, alright? Communicating with you is such hard work. I'll have the company contact your mother directly. Bye."

*Beep...* Listening to the busy tone on her phone, the celestial beauty sighed. Sure enough, whenever he looked for her, she was always just a peripheral female lead.

Before long, Liu Xiaoli arrived.

"Xixi, Solaris Pictures sent an invitation, saying Qianjun has already talked to you?"

Liu Yifei obviously lacked enthusiasm.

"Mhm, a peripheral female lead. Expected to join the crew in July or August."

Liu Xiaoli clearly disagreed with this phrasing.

"A lead is a lead. Even with less screen time, she's still the lead. Qianjun's movie box office is guaranteed. If you star in a few more like this, you can be marketed as the box office queen among leading actresses."

Liu Yifei felt rather gloomy. "Are these things really that important?"

To which Liu Xiaoli said solemnly, "What's important is that you don't have these things."

The celestial beauty could only sigh deeply at her mother's words. *Sigh, career is not easy.*

The next day, Zhang Qianjun went to the recording studio and handed the recorded songs over to Liu Chang.

Upon returning to the company, he met his manager, Li Yanjing, for the first time in a long while.

Previously, seeing that Li Yanjing's workload wasn't full enough, Zhang Qianjun had told him to go build a career of his own and set up the framework for Saturn Entertainment's talent agency.

Although the group led by "Glasses" heavily complained, opposition was invalid, and eventually, the framework of Beijing Saturn Entertainment Brokerage Co., Ltd. was established.

However, Saturn Entertainment's first signed artist was somewhat beyond Zhang Qianjun's expectations.

"You signed Li Xian? Do we have the resources to support him?"

This remark made Li Yanjing frown.

"Qianjun, do you have a misunderstanding of what resources are? Landing the male lead in a theatrical youth film as a sophomore—do you know what concept that is? Besides, if you didn't want to sign him, why did you give him the male lead in *The One of Us*?"

Zhang Qianjun shrugged. Li Xian was one of the few classmates he had interacted with. Between the male Li Xian and the female Yang Zi, it felt somewhat like a proper university experience.

"Back when we were running around contacting classmates for *Better Days*, he even played a punk and took beatings. I'd always wanted to arrange a role for him, but it's been over a year and only now did an opportunity come up."

Li Yanjing, however, clearly disagreed with this rationale.

"Qianjun, I wanted to say this back when you broke up with Qingzi, but considering that was your personal romantic affair, it wasn't my place to speak. You give away too much. Very often, you make me feel like you don't care about these things at all, recklessly squandering your money and resources. You can earn a lot right now, but people don't earn that much all their lives. What happens when one day you can't even pull in 100 million a year, yet you've developed these habits?"

*By then, I'll be pulling in 1 billion a year,* Zhang Qianjun mentally complained, but knowing his manager meant well, he nodded in agreement.

"Glasses, it's mainly because the money came too fast. I got a bit carried away."

Who would have thought Li Yanjing would shake his head again, denying his claim.

"You just give too much away; you're far from being carried away. At least I've never seen you make anyone go out at midnight to buy oil-splashed noodles, nor have you made anyone hand-press coffee for you on set. You're already one of the rare good guys in this circle, even if you did cheat."

Slightly embarrassed, Zhang Qianjun thought: *Can we not bring that up?*

"Did you make things clear with Li Xian? He's definitely getting second-tier film resources, and we haven't dipped our toes into TV dramas yet, so resources won't be abundant in the short term."

Li Yanjing shook his head again, looking quite helpless.

"It seems I've wasted my breath on you. These resources are already more than enough for him. Besides, TV dramas are much easier to coordinate than films. Relying on the framework of the company's film projects to trade for some television resources will be an absolute breeze."

Zhang Qianjun nodded. *Fine, you're in charge of artist management, you call the shots. As long as it makes money.*

"What about female artists? Male artist is Li Xian, any female ones? My classmate Yang Zi—once she grows into her looks, she'll probably be quite capable of making money. Did you go ask her?"

"I asked. It didn't work out. She wants to sign with a major corporation, and we didn't have the right resources to offer her anyway. After all, she was famous as a child."

Zhang Qianjun thought for a moment, and a person suddenly popped into his head.

"There's a girl named Dilraba in the Class of 2010 at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. You could look into her. I remember she participated in the audition for Yu Ji in *The Last Supper*. She's a Xinjiang girl, quite pretty. She should be able to make money in the future."

Seeing Zhang Qianjun acting as though he had fallen into a pit of money, Glasses couldn't help but laugh.

This guy really hadn't changed his original intention. The first time they met in Qiantang, he had asked how much money he could make by signing a singer's contract.

Yet, this made things even better: if he wanted to make money, then he should put his heart and soul into making money.

After Li Yanjing bid farewell, Zhang Qianjun thought of something. Since he had already poached Da Peng's *Keep You Safe*, his *Johnny Keep Walking!* seemed even funnier; it would be best to poach that one as well.

However, that film didn't seem quite ready yet; it would need a few years to have the right impact.

Just as Zhang Qianjun was pondering whose wool to shear next from Da Peng, Chen Xiaoyu walked in.

"Huang Xiaoming's new film *An Inaccurate Memoir* has invited you to the premiere."